This invention relates to a process for the generation of hydrogen, and particularly to the generation of hydrogen gas from water heated by waste heat for use as a fuel to supplement fossil fuels.
The use of hydrogen gas to supplement fossil fuel and the advantages thereof are well known. See, for example, NASA Technical Note D-8487 by John F. Cassidy entitled "EMISSIONS AND TOTAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION OF A MULTI-CYLINDER PISTON ENGINE RUNNING ON GASOLINE IN A HYDROGEN GASOLINE MIXTURE," and NASA Technical Paper 1247 by Theodore A. Brabbs entitled "CATALYTIC DECOMPOSITION OF METHANOL FOR ON-BOARD HYDROGEN GENERATION." While the above references are primarily directed to automotive uses for hydrogen gas, it is readily apparent that there is a wide spectrum of uses for hydrogen gas as a supplemental fuel. For example, hydrogen can be used in electrical generation plants wherein fossil fuels are utilized to generate steam.
Unfortunately, however, in most instances the cost for generating hydrogen gas far exceeds the value of the hydrogen as a fuel. Invariably special circumstances are necessary in order to be able to justify the use of hydrogen as a fuel.
Much effort has been put into developing processes which generate low cost hydrogen from water. Such processes include electrolytic, photolytic or high temperature processes to dissociate water to form the hydrogen. Reference is made to the patents listed below which describe some of these processes. The list provided is not exhaustive.
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 3,969,214 Harris July 13, 1976 4,202,744 Pan May 13, 1980 4,265,721 Hackmyer May 5, 1981 4,391,793 Boese July 5, 1983 4,394,293 Gratzel et al. July 19, 1983 4,427,512 Han January 24, 1984 4,437,963 Yeoman March 20, 1984 ______________________________________
However, to date there remains a need for a low cost method of generating hydrogen gas, particularly for generating hydrogen to supplement fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal. The present invention satisfies this need.